https://www.scmp.com/rss/161968/feed Lehman Brothers, one of the largest investment banks in the United States, filed for bankruptcy in the early hours of September 15, 2008, after an exodus of clients, drastic falls in its stock prices and downgrades by credit rating agencies. Its collapse has been described as a key point in the global financial crisis, with some commentators referring to a “Lehmans Moment”. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Bloomberg Bloomberg Three more global hedge funds are expanding to Hong Kong, providing a relief to the city that is anxious to revive its appeal as a regional financial hub. US multistrategy firm Hudson Bay Capital Management, UK credit shop Sona Asset Management and New York-based Centiva Capital are establishing a foothold in the city, said people with knowledge of the matter. Hudson Bay, the Stamford, Connecticut-based firm overseeing about US$20 billion, registered a Hong Kong entity in early October,... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3295045/hong-kong-gets-boost-3-global-hedge-funds-open-offices-recruit-staff?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3295045/hong-kong-gets-boost-3-global-hedge-funds-open-offices-recruit-staff?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2025 09:16:07 +0000 Most people may not have heard of the name Christine Schwarzman, but they likely know her husband, Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone. Initially a banker at Lehman Brothers, Stephen left his job in 1985 to co-found Blackstone with his boss and former US secretary of commerce, Peter Peterson. It has since grown to become the world’s largest buyout firm, and has over US$1 trillion in assets today. Schwarzman has amassed a fortune of US$53 billion, per Forbes, along with a type of influence... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3294644/meet-billionaire-blackstone-ceo-stephen-schwarzmans-wife-nearly-30-years-christine-schwarzman-long?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3294644/meet-billionaire-blackstone-ceo-stephen-schwarzmans-wife-nearly-30-years-christine-schwarzman-long?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2025 20:00:11 +0000 Do you remember Earth Overshoot Day – the day on which our consumption for the year overshoots the Earth’s capacity to produce resources? Back in the 1970s, it passed somewhere in December or November. By 2015, overshoot occurred on August 7. This year it passed unnoticed on August 1. This suggests we need 1.75 earths to supply the world’s 8.2 billion consumers and their indulgences. Some countries overindulge more egregiously and overshoot much earlier in the year. The worst, Qatar, overshoots... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3275524/world-speeding-hell-shopping-cart?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3275524/world-speeding-hell-shopping-cart?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Aug 2024 21:30:12 +0000 New York is known for its fast-paced, glamorous life, but all that glitz comes with a rather hefty price tag. After all, this is a major financial capital and one of the world’s most expensive cities. It also boasts a rep as the kind of place where hard work, some business savvy and a little luck can go a long way – which is why so many people are driven to move here and chase their dreams. So it’s no surprise that the Big Apple is home to the largest concentration of billionaires – 110 to be... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3261199/5-new-yorks-richest-billionaires-net-worths-ranked-michael-bloomberg-who-once-ran-president-julia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3261199/5-new-yorks-richest-billionaires-net-worths-ranked-michael-bloomberg-who-once-ran-president-julia?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 May 2024 21:00:18 +0000 Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello finalised their divorce last week, in what has been described to British media as being a relatively smooth process. The former couple split last year after seven years of marriage. According to Vergara’s interview with El País last month, they called it quits after realising they had different stances on having children. “My marriage broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids, and I didn’t want to be an old mom,” the actress told the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3253528/inside-nick-loebs-weird-battle-sofia-vergaras-embryos-aka-his-daughters-scion-lehman-family-directed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3253528/inside-nick-loebs-weird-battle-sofia-vergaras-embryos-aka-his-daughters-scion-lehman-family-directed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Feb 2024 22:00:25 +0000 Investors around the globe have many questions about China’s chaotic stock sell-off. Most relate to what is happening, how President Xi Jinping’s team might halt the plunge and where to hide? But it’s the when that may matter most. The reference is to 2015, the last time cratering Shanghai shares made global headlines for an extended period. The comparison matters because so many of the cracks Beijing pledged to fix eight-plus years ago remain below the surface. And they spook investors in ways... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3249362/how-chinas-stock-rout-was-8-years-making?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3249362/how-chinas-stock-rout-was-8-years-making?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Jan 2024 21:30:12 +0000 Two years after the bond default by one of China’s biggest real estate developers created the first shock waves, Beijing’s promise that everything is under control is becoming increasingly harder to sell to investors. Fears jumped further this summer as ailing developer China Evergrande Group then reported a combined loss of 812 billion yuan (US$112 billion) for 2021 and 2022 – a figure higher than its total earnings since it was established in 1996. Its bankruptcy protection application filed... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3231900/chinas-property-crisis-plagues-its-economy-and-financial-system-lehman-moment-looming?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3231900/chinas-property-crisis-plagues-its-economy-and-financial-system-lehman-moment-looming?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Aug 2023 00:00:11 +0000 Letters Letters Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification. Last week’s events in cryptocurrency have been described as the industry’s Lehman Brothers moment. It comes days after Hong Kong FinTech Week at which the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3199356/cryptocurrency-bear-market-ideal-time-hong-kong-put-its-regulatory-stamp-virtual-assets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3199356/cryptocurrency-bear-market-ideal-time-hong-kong-put-its-regulatory-stamp-virtual-assets?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Nov 2022 03:30:08 +0000 This article was first published in the South China Morning Post on July 23, 2009. It has been republished online as part of Hong Kong 25, which looks at how the city has changed since the handover, and what its future holds. By Enoch Yiu and Maria Chan Banks will repay at least HK$6.3 billion to 29,000 people who bought Lehman Brothers minibonds in what is likely to be the world’s largest compensation package for retail investors. The agreement involving 16 banks, announced yesterday by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3178498/july-22-2009-bank-payouts-lehman-brothers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3178498/july-22-2009-bank-payouts-lehman-brothers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jun 2022 02:38:21 +0000 A highly anticipated default by China Evergrande Group as soon as this week is unlikely to spark a broader malaise that threatens the overall stability of China’s financial system in the same way the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers did during the global financial crisis in 2008, according to research analysts. The world’s most indebted property developer is supposed to make a series of interest payments on its debt beginning on Thursday, but S&P Global Ratings and other credit rating... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3149573/default-china-evergrande-unlikely-spark-malaise-threatens-chinas-financial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3149573/default-china-evergrande-unlikely-spark-malaise-threatens-chinas-financial?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Sep 2021 09:30:43 +0000 Oil traders struggling to navigate one of the biggest oil crashes in history say the worst is yet to come. Even after plunging about 60 per cent this year to the lowest since 2003, prices will likely drop further to US$20 a barrel or below, according to a survey of traders from some of the world’s biggest oil companies and merchants. Analysts from Goldman Sachs to Citigroup also expect prices to extend declines in the coming months, with some even speculating certain regional prices could go... https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3076062/oil-prices-sinking-60-cent-year-one-forecast-sees-brent-going?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3076062/oil-prices-sinking-60-cent-year-one-forecast-sees-brent-going?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2020 03:45:11 +0000 China is under pressure to reduce interest rates in the near future to offset the economic damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak, spurred on by central bank rate cuts in the United States, Australia and Malaysia on Tuesday. Data released earlier in the week showed that activity in the country’s manufacturing and service sectors fell in February to their lowest levels on record, leaving Beijing with little choice but to act to shore up the economy. The US Federal Reserve half-point rate cut... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3065037/coronavirus-china-set-follow-global-interest-rate-cuts-offset?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3065037/coronavirus-china-set-follow-global-interest-rate-cuts-offset?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2020 12:00:22 +0000 Japan enacted legislation Friday making preschool education free as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive to expand child care support and stem the country’s falling birth rate. The government will use revenue from the planned consumption tax hike in October to run the free education program that is expected to cost 776 billion yen (US$7.1 billion) per year. The bill, which secured lower house approval in April, was passed by the House of Councillors on Friday, amid criticism from some... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3009720/japan-enacts-legislation-making-preschool-education-free-us7?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3009720/japan-enacts-legislation-making-preschool-education-free-us7?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 May 2019 08:47:43 +0000 It is hard to dispel the worry that there must be another financial crisis brewing as long as investment bankers believe that financial discipline and regulation only get in the way of profitable returns and great bonuses. It’s rare in investment banking for an entire department to complain or mutiny because it’s usually easier to move to another bank than to reveal discontent. So it was a surprise that The Financial Times revealed in September that HSBC investment bankers claimed in a memo that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/2171874/investment-banking-practices-unwise-loans-emphasis-derivatives-risk-another?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/2171874/investment-banking-practices-unwise-loans-emphasis-derivatives-risk-another?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Nov 2018 19:02:06 +0000 A week ago, columnist Tom Holland warned us to expect a deluge – over the coming weeks – of “ponderous opinion pieces by worthy pontificators” about the Lehman crash 10 years ago this week, and the story of the decade that has followed. “Most of what they write will be rubbish,” he said. At the risk of ponderous pontification, and an outpouring of rubbish, I have an irresistible urge to revisit what was perhaps the most traumatic economic event of our lifetimes. Still now, I think one of the... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2163414/lehman-brothers-seven-lessons-learned-decade-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2163414/lehman-brothers-seven-lessons-learned-decade-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Sep 2018 06:01:53 +0000 This month marks the 10th anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the event that tipped the US subprime crisis into a worldwide financial crash. For the next few weeks the international media will be full of ponderous opinion pieces by worthy pontificators, all re-examining the crisis. Inevitably, the majority will blame greedy and reckless bankers for causing the crash. Most of what they write will be rubbish. Bankers did not cause the 2008 financial crisis. It makes no more sense to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2162218/lehman-crash-10-years-nearly-all-you-read-will-be-wrong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2162218/lehman-crash-10-years-nearly-all-you-read-will-be-wrong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Sep 2018 01:02:01 +0000 The world of mystery shoppers has become less obscure to businesses in Hong Kong, which are increasingly turning to the shoppers to identify problems in order to raise service quality. Industry experts said a rising number of financial firms and retailers were hiring them to pose as customers to pick out what is not done well, as businesses are hit by economic headwinds on slowing growth in China and the technological disruption that is forcing companies to rethink the way they operate. Billy... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2114137/demand-mystery-shoppers-rises-banks-shops-want-better-service?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2114137/demand-mystery-shoppers-rises-banks-shops-want-better-service?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Oct 2017 09:30:00 +0000 No respectable financial columnist should forget to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the global financial crisis. Although its memories have retreated into the sands of time, don’t forget that it nearly collapsed the international markets. What we learned or failed to learn from that historic event continues to determine our future. Today, we can see that the financial crisis was a cyclical, secular and historical turning point that sparked the populist movement in America. The anger of... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2095652/have-banks-learned-anything-world-financial-crisis-10-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2095652/have-banks-learned-anything-world-financial-crisis-10-years?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 May 2017 06:00:59 +0000 The US$700 trillion financial derivatives industry has agreed to a fundamental rule change from January to help regulators to wind down failed banks without destabilising markets. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and 18 major banks that dominate the market will now allow financial watchdogs to apply temporary stays to prevent a rush to close derivatives contracts if a bank runs into trouble, the ISDA said. A delay would give regulators time to ensure that critical parts... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1615378/banks-agree-derivatives-rule-end-too-big-fail-scenario?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1615378/banks-agree-derivatives-rule-end-too-big-fail-scenario?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Oct 2014 20:13:46 +0000 On Monday, it will be six years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. With the US economy still operating below par and Europe struggling to stay above water, the question is whether the right medicine was given after 2008. The mainstream diagnosis was that the problem lay in excess credit and there was a need to control banks and shadow banks through more regulation and capital. Since politicians were not willing to push fiscal policies to the limit, central bankers opted for massive... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1590964/six-years-we-still-havent-learned-real-lessons-lehman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1590964/six-years-we-still-havent-learned-real-lessons-lehman?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Sep 2014 09:00:30 +0000 People are going to be discussing the flaws of Chinese finance for many years. Here's a helpful guide: as soon as you see or hear "China's Lehman moment" used seriously, stop paying attention. China cannot have a Lehman moment. Its financial system does not work the way America's (or Japan's or Italy's) does. In fact, it is not clear how China can suffer any sort of acute financial crisis. And it is extremely unlikely that, if such a crisis did occur, it would do lasting harm to the global... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1433983/why-china-cannot-have-lehman-moment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1433983/why-china-cannot-have-lehman-moment?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Feb 2014 01:30:45 +0000 Five years after US investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, triggering a global financial crisis and shattering confidence worldwide, families in major countries around the world are still hunkered down, too spooked and distrustful to take chances with their money. An Associated Press analysis of households in the 10 biggest economies shows that families continue to spend cautiously and have pulled hundreds of billions of US dollars out of stocks, cut borrowing for the first time in decades... https://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1326392/scarred-financial-crisis-families-around-world-play-safe-their?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1326392/scarred-financial-crisis-families-around-world-play-safe-their?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Oct 2013 06:36:19 +0000 At a closed-door meeting in early 2011, Wall Street regulators were close to throwing in the towel on their biggest case. The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) eight-member Lehman Brothers team, having hit one dead end after another over the previous two years, concluded that suing the bank's executives would be legally unjustified. The group, noting that prosecutors and FBI agents had already walked away from a parallel criminal case, reached unanimous agreement to close its most... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1307174/too-big-jail-inside-failed-lehman-inquiry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1307174/too-big-jail-inside-failed-lehman-inquiry?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Sep 2013 16:00:00 +0000 As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Lehman Brothers crash in September 2008, we might well ask: have we fixed the problems? Last month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas published a staff paper estimating the costs of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The conservative estimate came up to 40 to 90 per cent of the United States' 2007 output, roughly US$6 trillion to US$14 trillion. The Dallas Fed paper argued that it is important to measure the costs of the past crisis in order to weigh it... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1293927/who-suffered-most-and-least-lehman-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1293927/who-suffered-most-and-least-lehman-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to buy back HK$513 million of Lehman Brothers-related equity-linked notes at their par value from 540 investors who bought the products from the bank in 2007 and 2008. RBS is the latest bank to reach a settlement with the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority after investigations into whether bank staff mis-sold risky products to customers. The bank agreed, without admitting any liability, to repurchase at 100 per cent of par... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1285701/rbs-agrees-buy-back-structured-notes-sold-lehman-100pc?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1285701/rbs-agrees-buy-back-structured-notes-sold-lehman-100pc?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 If you want to invest in equities, you can buy stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, warrants and equity-linked notes, along with an array of insurance instruments that link to equity funds. If you want to invest in bonds, you generally have one option: mutual funds. Hong Kong's debt market for retail investors is restricted. The reason surprises no one - the ghost of Lehman minibonds looms large over this market, making banks and regulators petrified about the sale of any kind of... https://www.scmp.com/business/money/investment-products/article/1282607/memory-lehman-curbs-hong-kong-retail-investor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/money/investment-products/article/1282607/memory-lehman-curbs-hong-kong-retail-investor?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Although the taxpayer-funded Financial Dispute Resolution Centre has handled far fewer cases than expected in its first 10 months of operation, industry players say it has made banks and brokers handle client complaints more seriously. The FDRC, which started operations in June last year, was set up in the wake of the Lehman Brothers minibond fiasco in late 2008 in which more than 20,000 investors complained that they had been misled by banks and brokers into buying products linked to Lehman.... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1241441/hong-kong-mediation-centre-aims-end-lehman-minibonds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1241441/hong-kong-mediation-centre-aims-end-lehman-minibonds?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Colombia, rebels resume peace talks Peace talks between Colombia's FARC rebels, whose delegation includes Dutch national Tanja Nijmeijer, and the government recommence with a five-point agenda. The eagerly awaited discussions are taking place in Cuba and follow the start of a dialogue in Norway one month ago, which has raised hopes of breaking a decades-long cycle of conflict responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of people. But there is also a level of scepticism about the peace effort -... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1085662/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1085662/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 When I became the first non-executive chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in 2006, the world was cruising on a path of moderate growth, stable employment and subdued inflation, and asset prices were continuing to rise. Less than a year later, the world was hit by the subprime crisis that shone a spotlight on opaque markets that operate in the shadow of regulated markets. Lehman Brothers' collapse in September 2008 brought global financial markets to a near meltdown,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1053189/plugging-gaps-financial-regulation-hk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1053189/plugging-gaps-financial-regulation-hk?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Three Australian councils on Friday won their case against a Lehman Brothers subsidiary over losses they incurred on complex investment products that crashed during the global financial crisis. The decision is considered a test case as it follows the first full trial into the conduct of an investment bank in relation to the synthetic derivative investments known as collateralised debt obligations (CDOs). The class action from 72 councils, charities and churches accused Lehman Brothers Australia,... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1042315/three-australian-councils-win-case-against-lehman-bros-unit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1042315/three-australian-councils-win-case-against-lehman-bros-unit?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Sep 2012 08:36:49 +0000 Bank of China Hong Kong, the overseas arm of Bank of China, expects loan demand to weaken even further in the current half as Hong Kong's economy suffers from the uncertain outlook in Europe and the United States. The bank's net profit fell 6.3 per cent year on year to HK$11.24 billion due to the absence of the one-time recovery of provisions related to Lehman Brothers products in the year-earlier half. He Guangbei, vice-chairman and chief executive of BOCHK, said Hong Kong banks would probably... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1022126/global-economy-take-toll-bochk-loans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1022126/global-economy-take-toll-bochk-loans?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The Student Melody Liu had been working in banking for six years when the world was rocked by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent global financial crisis. Liu's bachelor's degree in political science had provided her with good training in analytical and presentational skills but, spurred on by the world financial panic, she decided to enrol on the University of Hong Kong's (HKU) part-time MBA programme. Today Liu is a manager at a prestigious private bank responsible for... https://www.scmp.com/article/1014546/surviveand-thrive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1014546/surviveand-thrive?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Monica Lee-Muller Managing director HK Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) Lee-Muller has been deputy managing director since 2007 and has led the team to secure many high-profile events in her 18-year tenure. She holds industry positions including a seat on the Ocean Park Corp board. She has a Master of Management Programme from Macquarie University and a Professional Certificate in Event Management from George Washington University. Philip Glickman Regional sales head of wholesale... https://www.scmp.com/article/1004740/move?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1004740/move?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 'I have adequate grounds to seek a judicial review. But it is difficult to confront the entire political engine with my own force.' Joseph Yam Chi-kwong Former HK Monetary Authority chief executive In 2007, Yam was the highest paid central banker in the world, with an annual salary of US$1.32 million, about seven times that of the chairman of the Federal Reserve (US$191,300), and approximately three times that of the President of the European Central Bank (Euro351,816 in 2008) ... Wikipedia I... https://www.scmp.com/article/1003576/sort-pay-packet-joe-shut-and-cop-flak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1003576/sort-pay-packet-joe-shut-and-cop-flak?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Two senior government officials should not be held politically accountable for the Lehman Brothers investment fiasco of 2008, the head of a legislature subcommittee on the issue said yesterday. Dr Raymond Ho Chung-tai was responding to criticism of the two men - Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah and Secretary for Financial Services and Treasury Professor Chan Ka-keung - as his subcommittee report, issued this week, mentioned them. 'The criticisms [of the two men, in the report] were not... https://www.scmp.com/article/1003321/lehman-criticism-played-down?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1003321/lehman-criticism-played-down?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The Legislative Council report on the Lehman Brothers fiasco cost taxpayers HK$28 million - the most expensive Legco investigation ever. Lawmakers denied claims that they had wasted public money, but while some admitted the inquiry could have been more cost-effective, the chairman said it could have cost an extra HK$16 million. The report released on Wednesday found that both the Monetary Authority and the Securities and Futures Commission failed to adequately respond to irregularities in... https://www.scmp.com/article/1003352/lawmakers-deny-hk28m-report-was-waste-money?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1003352/lawmakers-deny-hk28m-report-was-waste-money?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 For years, they banged the drum for justice, noisily protesting outside banks as they sought the return of money lost on minibonds when Lehman Brothers went to the wall in 2008. Whereas once there were dozens of investors banging drums and hanging banners, now just a handful continue their daily protests outside banks in Central - and while they are determined to fight on, they know all too well that their bargaining power is diminishing. While 35,000 of the 43,000 Hongkongers who bought... https://www.scmp.com/article/1003224/lehman-losers-vow-fight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1003224/lehman-losers-vow-fight?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Local investors like to boast how clever they are - unless they bought Lehman Brothers minibonds and other related derivative products. These Lehman investors have since gone out of the way to profess being financial illiterates, ignoramuses and idiots. And playing the fool has mostly given them what they want. More than 30,000 of 43,700 buyers of the Lehman products have been paid back 60 cents to more than 96 cents on the dollar. Some of them are no doubt victims - the grannies, retired savers... https://www.scmp.com/article/1003246/not-all-minibond-buyers-were-innocent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1003246/not-all-minibond-buyers-were-innocent?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong's 'largely ineffective' financial regulatory framework led to blunders that cost investors billions of dollars during the Lehman Brothers fiasco in 2008, a Legislative Council report has found. The report said the fact that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Securities and Futures Commission were separate entities prevented them from adequately responding to irregularities in Lehman's minibonds and structured financial products. The report also said former HKMA chief Joseph Yam... https://www.scmp.com/article/1003217/hkma-sfc-ineffective-lehman-bonds-fiasco?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1003217/hkma-sfc-ineffective-lehman-bonds-fiasco?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ... Democrats take Legco ban to High Court The High Court hears arguments by League of Social Democrats lawmaker 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung and member Anson Wong Hin-wai (left) in a judicial review of a law that bars anyone with a pending prison sentence from being nominated as a candidate or elected to the Legislative Council. Leung was sentenced in March to two months' jail for disrupting a forum last year on a proposal to... https://www.scmp.com/article/1003089/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1003089/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 As the closing chapter to the Lehman Brothers minibonds settlement, about 3,000 people who invested in the four series of minibonds directly issued by Lehman Brothers will get up to 70 per cent of their initial investment. But those who received 70 per cent or more of their investment from their banks in a 2009 settlement would not get any more because the value of the collateral of their minibonds was too low, according to a statement issued by 13 banks that sold the minibonds, including Bank... https://www.scmp.com/article/1002963/minibond-saga-drawing-close?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1002963/minibond-saga-drawing-close?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon has accepted responsibility for the 'hedging' losses at the bank and presided over the mandatory human sacrifices of foot soldiers. But what is the role and responsibility of senior managers and directors in complex and large financial institutions? Non-executive directors of financial institutions frequently have scant domain knowledge. On joining investment bank Salomon Brothers' board, the firm's chief economist Henry Kaufman noted that the non-executive directors... https://www.scmp.com/article/1002339/get-only-financial-experts-board?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1002339/get-only-financial-experts-board?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Brokers and bank staff will be banned from using their mobile phones to take client orders from December 1 as part of a new code of conduct imposed by the securities watchdog to enhance investor protection. They will instead have to use landline phones so their calls can be recorded. The Securities and Futures Commission will also require financial firms to extend their retention period for phone recordings for client orders from three to six months. And they will be required to have written... https://www.scmp.com/article/1001665/taking-orders-mobiles-be-banned?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1001665/taking-orders-mobiles-be-banned?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 HSBC lifted the bar in its battle for retail and wealth management business by increasing a 30-day cooling off period for some products, far more than the five-day period mandated by law. The new terms, which take effect immediately and last until the end of the year, entitle customers to a 30-day post-purchase fee refund or waiver period, rising to a 60-day period for those aged 65 or over. The products affected include securities margin trading service accounts, stocks monthly investment... https://www.scmp.com/article/999810/hsbc-lengthens-cooling-periodin-busy-market?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/999810/hsbc-lengthens-cooling-periodin-busy-market?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The police have stopped investigations into all but five of the thousands of complaints over sales of Lehman Brothers financial products. The Commercial Crime Bureau did not have sufficient evidence to pursue prosecution in most of the complaints, which alleged misleading sales by the now-defunct US investment bank, a spokesman said. It decided to close the files on those cases after seeking legal advice from the Department of Justice and reviewing the evidence, he said. 'As it is considered... https://www.scmp.com/article/997044/thousands-lehman-cases-dumped?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/997044/thousands-lehman-cases-dumped?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Proof, if ever it was needed, that sport and politics don't mix There appeared to be some confusion in the minds of those who manned the office at the Hong Kong Sevens that handled the messages going out on the big screen. Most of the messages were congratulatory or romantic, offering love or proposing marriage, or both. However, we hear of one gentleman, who, on learning of C. Y. Leung's victory in the chief executive election at around 12.30pm on Sunday, attempted to post a simple... https://www.scmp.com/article/996733/lai-see?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/996733/lai-see?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Already the subject of two documentaries (Capitalism: A Love Story by Michael Moore and the Academy Award-winning Inside Job) and a BBC series (Aftershock), the 2008 financial crisis has been given the HBO docudrama treatment in Too Big To Fail (HBO Signature; Friday at 8.15pm). Based on the book of the same name by The New York Times financial columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin, the film dramatises the weeks surrounding the collapse of Lehman Brothers through the eyes of the bankers and... https://www.scmp.com/article/992346/channel-hop?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/992346/channel-hop?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ... Councillors to debate Fa Yuen Street fire The Yau Tsim Mong District Council's committee on fire prevention will hold a meeting to discuss last week's deadly inferno in Fa Yuen Street, in which nine people were killed and 34 injured. Food and environmental hygiene officials and fire chiefs are expected to be grilled by the councillors, who have blamed the disaster on the government's lack of long-term planning and lax... https://www.scmp.com/article/986924/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/986924/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000 The provisional liquidators of MF Global's Hong Kong business are looking at selling off the Asian units of the collapsed US brokerage separately, rather than as a package. Patrick Cowley of KPMG, one of the provisional liquidators of MF Global in Hong Kong, said some bids received for the entire Asian platform were 'very encouraging', but bidders were unable to agree on actual sales terms in the available time frame. A vital reason was the legal battle arising from the brokerage's Chapter... https://www.scmp.com/article/984606/mf-globals-asian-units-may-be-sold-separately?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/984606/mf-globals-asian-units-may-be-sold-separately?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Julian Assange Time seems to be running out for the WikiLeaks founder. After losing an appeal in London on Thursday, it looks increasingly likely he will be extradited to Sweden to face charges of suspected rape and molestation. He could appeal to Britain's Supreme Court, but experts expect an appeal would fail. The ruling was the latest blow for Assange, whose secret-spilling organisation is on the brink of financial ruin. Cricket's outcasts Three Pakistani cricketers paid a high price for... https://www.scmp.com/article/984051/bad-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/984051/bad-week?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000